Does Mike Modano Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Mike Modano never scored more than 93 points in a single season and yet some people regard him as one of the greatest American-born hockey players ever, if not the absolute greatest.

Others look at his offensive output and think he’s horribly overrated.

Which is it? Does he belong or has he been horribly overrated?

Listen here:

Mike Modano Career:

• NHL: 1989-2011; 21 seasons, 20 quality
• Totals:
  • 561G (25th All Time, 1st American not including Hull),
  • 813A (2nd American) for
  • 1374P (24th All Time, 1st American other than Hull),
  • +114P in
  • 1499 games (19th All Time, 2nd American);
  • 19:47 ATOI (since 1998-99);
  • 144.9 PS (4th American excluding Hull)
  • Modano is 1st All Time in Offensive Point Shares among American-born players
• Draft: In Modano’s draft class (1988), Modano, the first American drafted 1st overall, is
  • 3rd in Goals, Points and Plus/Minus
  • 2nd in Assists and Games
• Era: Of the 24 players to play in at least 1250 games between 1989 and 2011, Modano is
  • 7th in Goals, GPG, APG and Offensive Point Shares
  • 5th in Assists
  • 4th in Points
  • 6th in PPG and Point Shares
  • 8th in Plus/Minus
• 82-game average: 30G, 44A for 75P, +6
• 3-year peak (1991-94): 82-game average of 41G, 51A for 92P, -8
• Possession (since 2007-08):
  • 51% Corsi For
  • -2.1% Relative Corsi For
  • 50.8% Fenwick For
  • -2% Fenwick Corsi For
• Playoffs:
  • 58G,
  • 88A for
  • 146P,
  • 0 in
  • 176 Games
  • Era: Of the 23 skaters to play in at least 164 playoff games between 1989 and 2011, Modano is
    • 6th in Goals
    • 6th in GPG
    • 8th in Assists
    • 7th in APG
    • 7th in Points
    • 6th in PPG
    • 21st in Plus/Minus (3rd last)
• Adjusted:
  • Hockey-Reference:
    • 578G,
    • 830A for
    • 1408P (19th All Time)
    • Adjusted 82-game average: 32G, 45A for 77P (+2P per 82 games)
    • If the qualifier is set to 1230 GP (15 seasons), Modano is
      • 24th All Time in Adjusted GPG
      • 24th All Time in Adjusted PPG
  • VsX:
    • Totals:
      • 568G,
      • 877A,
      • 1,298 (23rd All Time)
    • Not on the PG leader-boards
• Never traded.

Mike Modano’s Accomplishments:

• Top 5 in Selke voting twice,
• Top 5 in Calder voting
• Back Check MVP (’99)
• Never a top player by PS or top offensive player by OPS
• Goals:
  • Leader-boards:
    • Top 10 in Goals twice
  • GPG leader-boards:
    • Top 10 in GPG twice
  • Single-season totals:
    • Scored 50 goals once,
    • 35 goals four times,
    • 30 goals nine times,
    • 25 goals thirteen times (1 of only 24 players ever),
    • 20 goals sixteen times (1 of only 20 players)
• Assists:
  • Leader-boards:
    • Top 5 in Assists once
  • APG leader-boards:
    • Top 10 in APG twice
  • Single-season totals:
    • Tallied 60 assists once,
    • 50 assists four times,
    • 40 assists twelve times
• Points:
  • Leader-boards:
    • Top 10 in Points three times
  • PPG leader-boards:
    • Top 5 in PPG once
  • Single-season totals:
    • Scored 90 points twice,
    • 80 points eight times,
    • 70 points twelve times (1 of only 21 players ever),
    • 60 points 13 times (1 of only 25 players),
    • 50 points fifteen times
• Top 5 in Plus/Minus once, Top 10 four times
• All Star:
  • 1st Team All Rookie,
  • 2nd Team All Star once
  • 7 All Star Game appearances
  • Three Stars:
    • Weekly 3rd Star once.
• VsX:
  • Best 7 Seasons:
    • Goals: 100th
    • Assists: 100th
    • Points: 93rd
  • Best 10 Seasons:
    • Goals: 83rd
    • Assists: 88th
    • Points: 74th
• Playoffs
  • Led 9 playoff series in Points (t-4th most All Time – Gretzky, Kucherov, Sakic)
  • Top 3 in Points in 13 playoff series (t-17th All Time)
  • Led 27% of his career playoff series in Points (t-20th All Time)

Mike Modano’s Great Teams:

• NHL:
  • Best Skater or even Best Player (led playoffs in assists) on one Champion (‘99 Stars) and one Runner Up (‘00 Stars),
  • Best Forward (by points) on one Final Four (‘98 Stars),
  • Top 6 Forward on one Final Four (‘08 Stars),
  • Top 6 Forward (by points) on one Runner Up (‘91 Stars)
• Olympics:
  • Top 3 Forward (by points) on one Olympic Runner Up (‘02 USA)
• Canada/World Cup:
  • Top 3 Forward (co-led team in points but another forward made the All Star team) on one Canada Cup Runner Up (‘91 USA),
  • Top 3 Forward (by points) on one World Cup Final Four (‘04 USA),
  • Top 6 Forward (by points) on one World Cup Champion (‘96 USA)